"The document can't be opened because it's too large."

I just copied a Numbers '09 file I just made at work (and can still open there) to my MBP and when I try to open it, I get a "The document can’t be opened because it’s too large." error. It's only 1.4MB. I tried reinstalling iWork and re-saving and copying the file to no avail. Has anyone seen this or have any ideas?

I am having a similar problem. I am evaluating Numbers 09 for the first time and would like to get rid of Excel, which seems incredibly slow to open. I'm ready for a change and I like the look and feel of Numbers.
I am working with an export file of data from FileMaker Pro - 3900 rows by 336 colums, so over 1.3 million potentially filled cells. My MacBook Pro has 2 gb of RAM and currently shows 185 free, 495 inactive, 557 wired, and 804 active.
When I try to open the txt file (8.3 mb), I get the error message referred to above. When I open it in Excel, it immediately opens. I can then save it as an Excel file. When I try to open this Excel file in Numbers, it will open but I get a message stating that only 255 or fewer columns are supported.
Could this possibly be right? Granted, who in their right mind would create a data table with that many columns, but when working with legacy data (which is why I have a job) this is often the case and it's my job to clean it up.
Any assistance in both of my errors would be appreciated . . . even if the advice is to stick with Excel

Similar Messages

HT1750 Pages, This document can't be opened because it's too old. To open it, save it with Pages 09 first still can't open pages document

I recently purchased a new Mac and I am having difficulty opening older Pages documents.
Pages, This document can't be opened because it's too old. To open it, save it with Pages 09 first still can't open pages document

Either you have access to Pages ’08 v3, Pages ’09 v4, or neither. One of these older, but more functional versions of Pages can open, and export the document in question to Word. Preview on OS X 10.9.5 and Yosemite can view Pages ’08 documents (in my experience). It is not obvious to me that Preview may be using the installed Pages ’09 v4.3 to assist in opening these '08 documents.
Once opened in Preview, you can select/paste text into Pages v5.2.2, or v5.5. If you want the images from the PDF, then export it from Preview as PDF, and then drag/drop onto latest free LibreOffice icon in the Dock, which will open the PDF for editing. Select, copy, and paste the images into Pages v5, or incorporate into Text boxes, or Shapes. When pasted, images will be in their original size/resolution, not necessarily as small as they appear in the PDF.
If the second paragraph is a chore, then follow Peggy's advice above on the sources for purchase of Pages ’09.
In the future, I would not recommend trusting document architecture to Apple, and use a more accessible format (.doc/x) for better cross-platform access, longevity, and application choice. You may find LibreOffice, or Office for Mac 2011 a better choice for features.

This document can't be opened because it's too old.To open it, save it with Pages '09 first.

Bought new MAC desktop tried to open old Ipages and I get this message, what do I do now?
This document can’t be opened because it’s too old.To open it, save it with Pages ’09 first.
Thanks

If you migrated your old system to the new Mac you should still have Pages '08 in your Applications/iWork folder.
Open your document in Pages '08 and Export it to Word .doc/.docx and open that in Pages 5.
Peter

Trying to open Pages '08 files I get "This document can't be opened because it's too old."

I never owned pages '09 and I REALLY need my documents. This is unacceptable nonsense. Please tell me I can download a copy of iWork 09 someplace for Mavericks.
Thanks,

I suggest that you buy a retail copy of iWork '09 from Amazon or eBay & then update to the new iWork apps in the Mac App Store. You might check this link for the iWork '09 trial. I have no idea if it is still available.

The item can't be copied because it is too large for the volume's format

i have a macbook pro and a external hard drive 1tb. the thing is i can not copy any file that is more than 4gb. i know that fat partiotion has restriction. How i can format my external hard drive so i can copy and paste file on it from windows and mac os?

That is because the drive if formatted FAT32 and with a FAT32 formatted drive you can't store any file that is larger then 4GB (actually you can't store/save any file that is 4GBs. It has to be Slightly smaller then 4GB).
So you need to format that drive with Mac Extended (Journaled) with a Partition Table of GUID or format it exFAT.
exFAT if you plan on using that external on both Mac and Windows computers. Mac Extended (Journaled) if it will only be used on Mac computers.
If you format it exFAT do that on a Windows computer as Mac screws up the formatting and it then can't be read on Windows computers. Doing it on a Windows computer it can be read and written to on both Win and Mac.

The file "" can't be copied because it is too large for the volume's format

I've come across this error whilst trying to transfer a 7 gigabyte file onto various hard drives. It is apparent that file sizes smaller than this can be transferred however there seems to be a problem with this. I've tried to use the help of various forums but I simply have to no clue what to do. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Specs; Macbook Pro 13-inch, 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5, OSX 10.9.4

You need to either segment the file or reformat the drive as Mac OS Extended, exFAT, or NTFS.
(114117)

Unable to access time machine backup. The folder "Documents" can't be opened because you don't have permission to see its contents.

My MacBook Pro with 750GB storage refuses to startup due to a problem with logic board (unfortunately I'm in Singapore and there is no Apple store here and zero customer support). I'm trying to access some of the files from the time machine back-up using my MacBook Air with 120GB storage, but I'm unable to open the backup. I receive an error message "you don't have permission to see its contents". Unable to access time machine backup. The folder “Documents” can’t be opened because you don’t have permission to see its contents.
I don't really want to migrate the data from the time machine to the MacBook Air as I simply don't have sufficient storage space on the MacBook Air. The iPhoto library which I'm trying to access is 200GB, which is more than the size of the MacBookAir.
Is there any way I can view the photos and documents stored on the time machine backup.
Thank you very much.

When you setup the Mac, you created a Admin user account with say name X
You ran Migration Assistant and it migrated user Y from the Windows machine.
User Y has different permissions than User X.
User X can't normally access User Y's account.
So what you do is log out of User X via the Apple menu and into User Y, this way you have permission to access the files.
If you want to transfer files from User Y to User X account
Transfer files between user accounts on the same machine instructions
Finder > Go menu > Computer
A window appears with your boot drive, double click on it to open
Inside is Users folder, double click to open it
Inside is your User accounts, double click on the one you want to send files too
Double click on the Public folder drop the files into the DropBox folder,
The permissions will change and can be used in the other user account when you log into it and moved to the appropriate folders.
Applications are typically installed and kept in the Applications folder which is a global access folder all users can access to run them from, but not all users can modify unless they are a Admin user.
Windows programs won't run on a Mac, but they can be instaled into a virtual machine program that is running Windows.
Windows in BootCamp or Virtual Machine?

HT2963 The folder "Documents" can't be opened because you don't have permission to see its contents.

After running Apple Migration software from Win 7 to Mtn. Lion, the folders (now on the Mac in the "brokerbrian" users folder) have a red-dash-icon and upon attempting to open them, message box pops up stating: The folder “Documents” can’t be opened because you don’t have permission to see its contents. Any suggestions or encouragement?

When you setup the Mac, you created a Admin user account with say name X
You ran Migration Assistant and it migrated user Y from the Windows machine.
User Y has different permissions than User X.
User X can't normally access User Y's account.
So what you do is log out of User X via the Apple menu and into User Y, this way you have permission to access the files.
If you want to transfer files from User Y to User X account
Transfer files between user accounts on the same machine instructions
Finder > Go menu > Computer
A window appears with your boot drive, double click on it to open
Inside is Users folder, double click to open it
Inside is your User accounts, double click on the one you want to send files too
Double click on the Public folder drop the files into the DropBox folder,
The permissions will change and can be used in the other user account when you log into it and moved to the appropriate folders.
Applications are typically installed and kept in the Applications folder which is a global access folder all users can access to run them from, but not all users can modify unless they are a Admin user.
Windows programs won't run on a Mac, but they can be instaled into a virtual machine program that is running Windows.
Windows in BootCamp or Virtual Machine?

"The folder can't be open because you don't have permission to see it?

I click open my Macintosh HD - open users folder-thank open user name folder - there are many folders a few with a red button with an minus sign ! I try to open one of these folder wiht minus sign only to get the following message: "The folder Documents can't be open because you don't have permission to see its contents."
What gives? There are a few other folders that give me this same message!

I followed ur directions : went to Get Info-under Sharing & Permissions it said I had no access. Under this message there was two column, one titled "Name" & the other "Privilege." Under "name" was my user name & under "Privilege" was Read & Write." The second row under "Name" was "everyone" with "No Access" in the "Privilege" column. I opened the padlock. A window with this message appeared: "Type your password to allow Finder to make changes." I entered my password, which was accepted. I have to admit at this point I was lost in what to do.
Closed the padlock. Tried to open document with no luck! <ha>
My "users: folder has two users name: under the :house: icon is one name while another folder has another user name i use. I don't have any problem opening any folder in the "House" icon folder - it's the other folder that I have an issue with.
What next?

Time machine backup saysThe folder "Documents" can't be opened because you don't have permission to see its contents.

I am trying to install my time machine backup. But as I open the backup it says
:The folder “Documents” can’t be opened because you don’t have permission to see its contents.
I did get the info on the file to unlock it but still it gives me a no entry sine. How do I install my backup to my new mac when this backup can't be opened?

Hello yvettefrompretoria,
Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.
From your post it looks like you're trying to restore a Time Machine backup to a new computer. To do that simply follow the steps in the article below, in the section "Time Machine or other disk migration."
OS X: How to migrate data from another Mac using Mavericks
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5872
Take care,
Alex H.

Can no longer access folders on my network. The folder can't be opened because you don't have permission to see its contents.

Every since I nstalled maverick I have not been able to open folders through my home network. A dialoge box says
The folder can’t be opened because you don’t have permission to see its contents. I have always used an open network and never had issues. Now the strange part is I can open files if I use photoshop or illustrator to access them but I need to access all files not just select ones using a program.I have many shared folders on my network for everyone to access work files, none of them are working. I am running a dual system network with PC's and Macs.The files are, and always have been, located on an external drive attached to the primary PC as a shared drive. PLEASE HELP

https://discussions.apple.com/message/20971272#20971272

"The alias can't be opened because the original item can't be found"

Hello,
I use many alias folders to take advantage of copy.com applications feature which allows you to have aliases in the "Copy" folder (i.e. Dropbox doesn't) and sync them with the cloud. It's an easy backup solution.
My problem is that very often most of these aliases stop working. Double clicking pops out the message "The alias can't be opened because the original item cant' be found" even if the original file/files have never been moved neither renamend.
Googling and searching in the forum suggested to check and fix premissions with disk utility. I did it but nothing was solved. I use to do this every week since I noticed that Disk Utility always find something corrupted.
What can I do?
I have a mbp mid 2009 with ML 10.8.5.
I don't know if the hdd is going to fail (since utility disk always find something wrong), is there someway to test it?
Thanks for your help,
Andrea

As an experiment, pick some sample Aliases that seem to constantly break, and replace them with symbolic links (a Unix feature).
Either do this via an Applications -> Utilities -> Terminal session
ln -s "drag_and_drop_file_or_folder_from_finder_here" "drag_and_drop_destination_folder_here"
Or get a GUI utility to make symlinks
<https://www.macupdate.com/find/mac/symlink>
Now see if the symlinks work and do not get corrupted.
If Symlinks work long term, then replace the rest of the Aliases you are using for copy.com with symlinks.
Message was edited by: BobHarris

The alias can't be opened because the original item can't be found - After USB Flash Drive transfer

I've seen a couple of threads about this message, but none dealing with my simple issue:
I get this message: "The alias can't be opened because the original item can't be found" -- AFTER TRANSFERRING THE FILE IN QUESTION VIA FLASH DRIVE.
I thought, maybe the "original item" hadn't been completely copied from the drive, so I tried opening the file again this time with the drive still plugged into the laptop--but again, the message came up and I couldn't open it.
What's the deal?
The files I'm transferring:
a 1.2GB MKV file of a movie I downloaded, which I had no trouble viewing on my desktop
a 105MB application
(btw, the application is called "VLC", which is a file playing app that works on my desktop, and I want it on my laptop so that I can play movie files like .mkv, which is the other file I'm transferring...but that doesn't make any difference, I think. No, I can't just download the movie and the app right onto the laptop...I don't have wifi right now...='[...)

I had been dragging straight from the desktop into the USB window. Eventually, I opened up finder and went to Desktop there, and when I dragged the files from there into the USB window, it worked. Now it took a while to move the files into the USB, which was a sign that they were actually being moved.

The file can not be opened because of an error in the header

I made a recording with Adobe Audition CC and saved this as a wav file. So far I could go open the file with Adobe Premiere Pro CC. But now always the following error message is poping up:
The file can not be opened because of an error in the header

Please dont double post:
Die Datei kann wegen eines Fehlers in der Kopfzeile nicht geöffnet werden

How can I put my recently purchased iTunes movies on to my thumb drive and WD My Passport external hard drive. My Mac keeps saying "can't be copy because it is too large for the volumes format

How can I put my recently purchased iTunes movies onto my thumb drive and WD my passport external hard drive.My Mac is saying that can't be copied because it is too large for volumes format

[file] is too large for the volumes format
That is usually an indication that the Volume was never Erased or Partitioned for GUID partition table and Mac OS, and is still in a Windows format.
Mac OS X Extended (journaled) has no such file-size limitations

"The document can't be opened because it's too large."

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